


Kindle

by Heliocat



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Birthday Presents, Cute, Cute Okumura Eiji, Fluff, Hugs, M/M, Modern Era, Presents, Surprises, Suspicions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heliocat/pseuds/Heliocat
Summary: Eiji tries to surprise Ash for his birthday, but it doesn't quite go to plan.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 14
Kudos: 153





	Kindle

**Author's Note:**

> Some cute fluff with a modern setting for you :) Anime setting, because they didn't have e-Readers in the 80s.
> 
> British English spelling and grammar, because that's how I roll in this hood!
> 
> Many thanks to Akimi Yoshida for creating Banana Fish - this is a work of fanfiction, so I own none of the intellectual property.

Eiji started acting weird around a month ago. Ash came back home early to find him using his laptop, which wasn’t all that unusual in itself. Ash had given him the passwords and he occasionally used the computer to play solitaire or browse the web under the protection of an encrypted VPN Ash had set up, but this time he slammed the screen down the moment he saw him come into the room, a really furtive look on his face. That meant he was using the laptop to do things he shouldn’t be.

Ash assumed it was porn, or similar. That would explain the almost embarrassed expediency with which he hid the screen and tucked the little laptop away. Against his better judgement, Ash opted to not demand he hand the computer over immediately so he could see. He merely narrowed his eyes as Eiji greeted him, surprised to find him home at this time. Later, when Eiji went for a shower, he checked the internet history, but found the sneaky Japanese had cleared the recent internet history, leaving no clues as to what he had been looking at.

*

The next time he caught Eiji acting weird, he had been talking to Alex in hushed tones, squirrelled away in a corner of the kitchen during a gang meeting. He didn’t catch anything that Eiji said, but he distinctly heard Alex say, “No, I don’t think he’d like that very much…” before his second-in-command caught sight of him watching them and fell silent. Eiji seemed to twig his sudden change of demeanour, because he turned to view Ash with a guilty, slightly startled look, that immediately melted into his usual calm and happy neutral face at seeing him there. He greeted him with a gleeful ‘Hello Ash’, but Ash once again found him viewing him with scepticism.

He was up to something. Probably something dangerous, if he didn’t want him to find out about it.

He tried asking Kong and Bones about it. They spent the most time with Eiji, so if anything was going on they would probably know about it. Both of them claimed to know nothing, but Ash couldn’t help but notice how neither of them met his eyes as they said it.

“Seriously Boss, you think _Eiji_ of all people is acting suspiciously?” Kong shrugged. “Our Eiji?”

“I think the streets are getting to you a little, Boss,” Bones smiled sympathetically, “You’re starting to see distrust everywhere.”

“I caught him talking to Alex about something, and Alex warned him away from it…”

“Oh that! He was asking Alex if I liked, erm... fish! Grilled mackerel!” Bones made up a hasty excuse.

“Yeah, you know he cooks us lunches and stuff?” Kong nodded a little too enthusiastically next to him.

“Hmm…”

“You need to trust in our boy Eiji a little more,” Bones reassured him. “We spend all day with him, and never see him doing nothing bad.”

“Well, if he does start acting weird, you’d tell me, right?”

“Of course, Boss!” Kong nodded again.

*

A phone call came through to them from the front desk. Their apartment was fancy enough that it had both a doorman and a reception manned 24/7 to monitor guests and receive mail.

“Master Winston?” said the voice of the receptionist, “You have a package at the front desk.”

“A package?” Ash asked, confused. He saw Eiji perk up suddenly from the sofa.

“Yes.”

“But I’m not expecting any-“

“I will get it!” Eiji told him hurriedly, scrambling to the door, slipping some shoes on and borrowing Ash’s bomber jacket like he usually did.

“Eiji – wait!” Ash cried out to him, hanging up the phone. “What if it’s not safe?”

“Ash, I am supposed to be house boy,” Eiji sighed. “House boy get post! It would look weird if Chris Winston get own post when Chris has house boy to get post for him.”

He had a point.

“Just be careful, alright?” Ash said. “I’m not expecting anything, so it could be a bomb or anthrax or something else.”

“You worry too much,” Eiji laughed as he walked out the door. “It probably just package from Max.”

He returned 15 minutes later, apparently empty handed.

“You get the parcel?” Ash asked him.

“It was not for us,” Eiji shrugged, hanging the bomber jacket and kicking off his shoes. He surreptitiously checked one of the large pockets of the jacket before walking into the living area. “They called wrong person. It for, ano… Cain Winston. He live two floors above. Fancy businessman.”

“Cain Winston?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…” He didn’t recall any other ‘Winstons’ living in the building.

“I saw it had wrong address and they apologise for bothering you.”

“Alright then…”

That pause Eiji gave when thinking of a viable name was clearly indicative of a lie said on the fly. That coupled with his insistence he go and collect the package… what was that boy up to?

*

Eiji was chatting in a low, hurried voice over the burner phone Ash had provided him, hunched over his laptop again.

“So, you think that okay?” he whispered into the phone, cradling it between his shoulder and jaw so he could type and use the laptop trackpad. “Yes. Yes, thank you. I shall.”

“Eiji…?”

“Ah! I have to go! Bye!” He hung up the phone and, once again, slammed the laptop screen down.

“Who were you talking to?” Ash asked him.

“Ibe-san,” he lied. Ash saw right through him; Eiji always spoke to Ibe in Japanese when they were conversing alone.

“You were speaking in English.”

“Aaaah…”

“Eiji, what’s been going on lately?”

“What you mean?” he tried acting nonchalant, standing and walking away from the laptop to stand in front of him. “Nothing going on!”

“Eiji…”

“What?”

“You’ve been sneaking around behind my back – naturally I’m a little suspicious!” He could hear his voice getting louder until he was practically shouting. Eiji quailed a little before him as he started to get heated, but he continued anyway. “I want to know what you’ve been doing?! Who you’ve been talking to?! It’s dangerous out there – you know that!”

“I just…”

“What, Eiji? What!?”

Eiji’s voice was quiet, almost scared sounding, as he whimpered, “I wanted to surprise you for your birthday…”

“…Birthday?”

Eiji nodded, staring at the floor, cheeks tinted pink. He fidgeted with his hands at the hem of his shirt. “People always take from you, so I… I wanted to be someone who gives. Only people I speak to were people in gang and people you trust, but I wanted to surprise you, so had to keep secret! Sorry.”

Ash felt like someone had just smashed a metaphorical brick into his face. Any anger and exasperation he had been feeling dissipated instantly to be replaced with confusion, shame, and guilt.

“I made Amazon account, but was careful, I promise! I made it in name of Chris Winston! That why they contact you to collect a parcel at front desk – it was addressed to you. And I ask to borrow my Aunt’s credit card in Japan to pay, because I think nobody will know who she is and it will trace back to Japan to random lady who does not share same last name as me. They have no way of knowing we related – I figure they do not know my past well, only my name and face. Mother can pay her back using money from my account in Japan – she has access. I called her from a payphone outside to keep burner phone clean of foreign calls that may trace to me. I wore disguise, we spoke in Japanese, and I had Kong and Bones accompany me so I was safe. And your computer has VPN. I use IP address in Singapore to make transactions. Everything hard to trace…”

Eiji had clearly thought things through carefully, considering his actions and the possible consequences.

“You may as well have now, seeing as surprise ruined…” he said meekly, trudging dejectedly away from him and heading into the kitchen of all places. He opened one of the upper cupboards, reaching up on tiptoe to reclaim a small Amazon package from behind a pile of plates, handing it to him and looking upset about the whole affair, like a naughty child who thinks he has done something massively wrong. Ash opened the box, frowning. Inside, was a small electronic tablet reader.

“Is this…?”

“A Kindle,” Eiji said sheepishly. “I thought, ‘Ash like books, so maybe I could get him lots of books and he be happy’. It not much, but I ask your friends if they knew what you liked to read the most, and I download books by those authors for you. I also find some of my favourite books translated into English, and download them too.”

Ash turned the Kindle on and scrolled through to find hundreds of pre-downloaded books just waiting to be read. Eiji had found him an entire collection of Hemingway, Hardy, Steinbeck and Salinger. There were standalone gems like ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, ‘Catch-22’ and ‘Lord Of The Flies’, plus a library of public domain classics. A few distinctly Japanese names stood out, hidden amongst the western literature; Murakami, Yoshimoto, Sōseki… also a few mangas had sneaked on board too. The Kindle itself was one of their small, 6-inch e-readers rather than the bulkier and more costly Fire, nothing too fancy, but it was the type of tablet that can hold thousands of books, plus is easy to shove into a bag or a pocket for convenience with a battery that potentially lasts for several weeks. He’d clearly put a lot of time and effort into this present, as well as a lot of thought and consideration. It was possibly one of the nicest presents anyone had ever brought him.

Ash felt like such a jerk for yelling at him now.

“I should not have crept around behind your back,” Eiji said sadly, watching him place the Kindle down on the kitchen table. “I am not good at keeping secret. Should have known it would cause worry. I just wanted to get you something really-“

Ash cut him off by grabbing hold of him suddenly in a rough hug, pulling him in close, his arms squeezing tight around his chest. Eiji stiffened, giving a squeak of surprise at being suddenly manhandled, but he relaxed quickly.

“I love it,” Ash said, chin resting on Eiji’s shoulder as he held him tightly. “Sorry I yelled at you. I was just worried that… well…”

“Does this mean I did good?”

“Eiji… this is the best early birthday surprise I could ever wish for,” he replied emotionally, his voice threatening to crack. He somehow staved off tears, but he was glad Eiji couldn’t see his face right now. “Thank you.”

Eiji made a small happy noise in his throat, wrapping his arms around Ash gently. “You are welcome,” he said quietly.

“So, who were you talking to when I came home?” Ash asked him seriously, keeping a close hold on him so he couldn’t wheedle out of talking.

“Max,” Eiji said. “He have lots of recommendation. He like reading too, and know more about English book than me. I was buying some of his ideas when you come home…”

“How much did you spend on this?”

“Does it matter?” Eiji said. “You worth it!”

“I’m not worth this much,” he claimed sadly.

“I decide what you worth, Ash,” Eiji whispered. “And you worth more than I can pay.”

“About $2000 an hour is the going rate,” Ash said jokingly, breaking off the hug but still holding him by the shoulders. Eiji looked up at him seriously.

“That strangely affordable. They undersell you,” he replied. “You worth way more! I pay the Earth if I could and it still not enough!”

“How do you manage to say such corny things with a straight face?” Ash blushed furiously.

“Heheh, hidden talent. Happy early birthday,” Eiji laughed. “ _O-tanjōbi omedetō!_ ”


End file.
